UMFan83

Ok guys need 4-5 more to Lackeyproof this game

Willy!

Today's "improbable error made just to piss Lackey off" brought to you by Javy Baez turning a possible DP into 0 outs.

2016 Javy would have done an acrobatic improbably slide into second

So Rizzos 5 games leading off have led to: HR, HR, BB (after a long barely foul drive), 1B and 2B

More time to spend with our kids/fathers, what a great gift Cubs!

Based on hit probability they basically won so go ahead and give it another shot!

Supposedly Bryant is sitting again today....

I'll stop beating the luck drum after this but that was an extraordinarily unlucky loss for the Cubs in a relatively unlucky season thus far.

6 outs from this dude and 5 of then were via good defensive plays or liners right to guys

Absolutely no one should think that. Pretty sure the numbers say Heyward is Uber elite at RF and merely very good in center But you thought Happ is a better choice for CF? That depends on whether you want uber elite in RF and adequate in CF or very good in CF and adequate in RF. Obviously CF is the more important position but it's hard to take Heyward from a position where he is out of this world good at. Not sure how you took my comment as a judgment that Happ was better defensively than Heyward. Maybe lack of sleep or something, I've been there. Also my comment about Happ was partly in jest because people have been openly questioning why Happ was playing CF when he came up with questions about his defense in general. And admittedly I overreacted to a play that, in retrospect, was unnecessarily flashy and would have been more easily handled by someone like Almora.

Was kind of strange seeing Addison Russell face Rivero in the 8th inning with a RISP and 2 outs in a 4-3 game for the second night in a row

Jesus horsefeathering Christ. Liner right to RF then incredible range on a grounder up the middle. horsefeathering horrible luck

Absolutely no one should think that. Pretty sure the numbers say Heyward is Uber elite at RF and merely very good in center

Bryant looks awful today. Maybe 2 straight days off isn't great for all hitters. Think he struck out in his AB yesterday

Our number 2 hitter everyone!

Who knows how long that would take to heal but maybe. Maybe they are waiting for Anderson to come back. Then we can have a rotation consisting of Lester, Lackey, Anderson, Montgomery and Butler!

M-maybe Happ is the best choice to play CF...

Probably the exposed flesh on his pitching thumb

the cubs should be leading by 10 games but are not the best team in an embarrassing division... hmmm :-k The Cubs absolutely should be the best team. I have never thought otherwise. The fact that they have not been is simply shocking. Sometimes what is happening on the field does matter. It's shocking yes but it makes sense to me to some degree. The Cubs had historical strand rate and BABIP against last year, good defense or not that is bound to regress and unfortunately it has regressed too much in the other direction. Also their top 4 starters have both thrown a lot of innings the last 2 seasons and have been extremely healthy. Not surprising one of them got hurt and the others have regressed to various degrees. The hitting and defense is what baffles me. Yes a lot can be attributed to hitting with RISP but the fact that only 2 guys have a higher OPS than projections is a bit unfortunate and hard to explain. The defense probably still has decent advanced stats and those are what ultimately matter but they've had a knack for making inexplicable errors that we just didn't see last year. The Cubs won 200 games with a very similar roster the last 2 years so you'd think sooner or later we will see that team and given the state of the division a nice little run will probably have us in control of the division. But I can't pretend this season hasn't been as frustrating as horsefeathers waiting to get there. But maybe it's a good thing, maybe the Cubs have to fight and claw their way into October and enter feeling like they again have something to prove.

I know that's a wild pitch but damn do our catchers have some problems catching the horsefeathering baseball

That looked just like his home run against the Giants in the playoffs

Atta boy Jake

He actually seems to be doing better recently, true? Yeah I'm just being a jackass

Nope instead a weak contact grounder for easy out. Forgot Addy was up